Changed
by friendhugsrock
Summary: This story is based after the 'Sock Opera' and excluding episodes after that (though they may be mentioned or referenced later). After the events of 'Sock Opera' Dipper starts showing... signs. Burning hatred for the psychotic dream demon that seemed to have-either purposely or accidentally- thrown him down this hole where the only burning light seems to be his own blazing flames.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

It's all over. Summer. Gone. One week until school starts. We have to leave. Mabel finally dragged me out of the closet that I had been hiding in for the past half month. She packed for me. I wouldn't move. I huddled into a ball and stayed on the floor. I ate when I had to eat. I couldn't sleep. Grunckle Stan knew. Mabel told him after saying that I was sick didn't work as an excuse anymore. They got me long sleeved jackets, jeans, and an eyepatch.

Our parents came and questioned my appearence. Grunckle Stan told them I had got in an accident, which led to a heated conversation about why they were not informed of this earlier. At the end of it, we all piled into the caravan and drove off. Back to Peidmont in California.

* * *

"Dipper!" I heard a call from downstairs. "Get up! You don't want to be late for school!" Yes I do, I wanted to say. I don't want to go. I'm sick. Which _was_ true, depending on how you looked at it. "Dipper Pines! I know you can hear me! Get up!" I sighed. I silently stood. I got dressed without making a sound. I packed my bag with notebooks. I was in grade 8 this year. I wasn't nervous like I always was every other year. No one was going to make fun of me his year. I'll make sure of it. I finished brushing my teeth. I spit out the excess toothpaste.

"Bleh". I half gagged as some got caught in my throat after accidentally swallowing it. Suddenly a blur was on me. "Ahhh!" I fell over and tucked into a ball. I groaned. Well if any of my wounds had closed, they were sure open now.

"Hey bro bro!" Said a voice enthusiastically. "What's up?" I uncurled to see a face with a silver filled smile staring down at me. I let out a breath.

"Goodmorning Mabel". I said without emotion. By now it was slightly normal. Lately for me, that's extreamly happy. She smiled. She then grabbed my cheeks and tried to pull them into a smile a wide as hers.

"Mabel, stop! Really, please, come on haha-" We both froze. She was staring at me and I was staring at nothing. She hugged me.

"All my life's goals are complete". She muttered. "Well except for-" She started ranting off a list of things that she wanted to do. I got up while she was talking and made my way downstairs, my face once again emotionless. I walked past the kitchen and through the door. Going to the bus stop. Kids were already there. They were joking and goofing around. Suddenly one spotted me. He tapped his friends arm. Eyes never leaving me. His friend turned and then tapped another arm. The procedure went on until everyone had noticed me. Either from being tapped or wondering what everyone else was looking at.

" _What?_ " I hissed. I didn't mean to put venem into it. It just came out that way. They quickly turned back to what they were doing. Except now they seemed a little unerved by my presence. Mabel soon joined me. She immedietly jostled me with her elbow quickly. ' _I'm here for you'_ It said. I elbowed her back. _'Thanks'_. The bus came and we all boarded. I sat at the back alone while Mabel sat with some friends. I could hear them talking about their summer activities. I scrunched up my face and shifted my eyepatch. Much better... Well it would be better if I didn't have to wear one in the first place. I closed my eyes and stayed perfectly still for the rest of the ride. Thinking, but not thinking all at once. The bus stopped. I opened my eyes to find that we were at school. I stood when the doors opened. Put my head down, and walked off towards the school. I could feel eyes on me as I walked through the door. I walked down the very centre of the hall, head down. I knew what they were thinking. Literally. There were only a few people who noticed me this time. They were a few of the ones from the bus stop. I could vaguely tell that people were thinking about what happened to the wimp. And, holy crap. Even though the jeans and jackets hid most of the marks, there were still long scratches on my face that had stopped bleeding but wouldn't close. I heard footsteps coming up behind me. I knew they were coming at me because they were thinking my name. Right when they were less than a foot behind me and I could here the whistle of a fist through the air, I whipped around. There were four people standing there. I snapped up my wrist and caught the fist an inch from my face. The person behind it looked shocked. So did the three people behind that person. Actually, everyone did. I stared at the guy in front of me. His name was Mike Phillips. He had redone eighth grade four times. He was 17 years old and was still in middle school. I glared at him from under my signiture pine tree hat. Something dangerous sparked in my eye. I didn't know what it was, but I didn't like it. He suddenly looked unsettled. He quickly rippd his hand out of my fist. He turned and walked away. But not before I caught him starting to rub it. I frowned even deeper, if that was possible. The other three were still standing there. I turned and started to walk away. I heard another fist. I suddenly ducked while still walking. I heard it go over my head. I winced. Ow. I could feel one my wounds on my midriff start bleeding again. It was a relatively big one but I didn't care. Only one person noticed that I even winced but I couldn't tell who it was. I walked to my locker. I shoved my bag and all but one of my notebooks and a pencil inside. I walked to my first class. Mythology. I stopped when I reached the door and debated whether to even go in or not. This is the kind of stuff that got me into this situation in the first place. I made up my mind and walked in. I had never _ever_ missed or skipped a class, why not keep it that way? I wanted at least one thing to stay the same. I took a seat at the very back. I was the first one there. I sat straight and looked forward. The bell rang. Kids slowly filed in, trying to take their time. They were moving so slow it looked more like a marathon on rewind. After the last one pushed through the door, the teacher passed by them to the front. It was Mr. Atcear. He was one o the more strict teachers in the entire school. I wouldn't doubt it if he was in the top ten for strictest in the entire system. I'd never had a problem with him though. People always called me teachers pet, which in a way I was. Mr. Atcear turned to face the class. His eyes scanned over everyone. He suddenly called out.

"Is there not supposed to be a Veronica here today?" The door then burst open. A blond streak rushed through to sit in a seat halfway across the classroom.

"Sorry!" She exclaimed all too loud. "I'm on time though, right?" She couldn't have had _better_ timing because at just that moment, the second bell rang. She beamed up at Mr. Atcear who had looked like he was about to say something about it until the bell rang.

"I will see you after class Miss Jordon". He turned back to the rest of the class. "Today we will be studying something a little different" He started. A couple of the few people who weren't paying attention looked up. He turned and started writing on the board. People got weird looks on their face and were thinking, 'What the heck is that?!'. He turned back. "Can anyone tell me what this says?" I looked at the board for a second. It said;

9-20 19-1-25-19 19-15-13-5-20-8-9-14-7

He was trying to be tricky. I raised my hand. Just because I'm anti-social doesn't mean that I don't want good grades. He looked over at me. "Yes, Dipper? What do you need?"

"I know what it says already". He looked slightly shocked.

"Okay. What is it?"

"It says something", I stated proudly. Everyone laughed at me. Mike, who just so happened to be in this class with me, looked over and called loud enough for everyone to hear.

"Good going dweeb, you're _'such'_ a genius". Everyone laughed harder. I kept my face blank. I counted down in my head. 3, 2, 1,

"QUIET! Called Mr. Atcear. The class shut up immedietly. "Actually", He started a little calmer. "He's right". Any still lasting smirks were wiped off their owners faces. They stared unbelievingly as he wrote 'It says something' under the numbers. He faced me. "Do you know what that's called?" He asked. I answered without hesitation.

"It's called the A1Z26 cipher"

"Very good. Does anybody know any other ciphers besides this one?" I once again raised my hand. So did the girl Veronica. "Veronica". He addressed.

"I can burp speak", she said still smiling. Was there something wrong with her? I looked down only to see an empty package of Smile Dip sticking out of her pocket. Oh. I kept my hand raised. Mr. Atcear sighed. He walked over to his desk and wrote something on a paper. He then pointed to me.

"I know two others" I said. "The Atbash cipher and the Ceasar cipher". He wrote on the boards as I spoke.

"Can you please spell a word in each of them? It can be the same word". I started.

"For the Ceasar, k-h-o-o-r. And for the Atbash, s-v-o-o-l"

"What word is that?"

"Hello". He nodded at me then wrote the word under each set of letters. I suddenly felt weird. I raised my hand once more. He finished writing.

"Yes? Is there something you would like to add to that?"

"Actually, may I go to the washroom?" He nodded and held out a hall pass. It was one of the two that are always right behind his desk. I walked up and grabbed it, then walked out of the room.

I rushed to the bathroom right after I was out of sight from everyone in the classroom. Once I got there I checked to see if anyone else was there, and, by some miracle, no one was. I ran in front of the mirror only to see that there was a faint gold glow, almost undetectable, around me. great. I thought. How am I going to hide that?! I heard the creak of the door and whipped away from the mirror, my eyes hidden in the shadow of my hat. Mike walked in. Seriously? _Again?_ I internally sighed but on the outside I was silent and still. The only hint he had that I was even looking was that I was faced in his direcion. He took a step forward. He held his tensed arms out a little from his sides, trying to look intimidating. I didn't move.

"What're you doing, geek?!" He asked loudly. My eyes were still shadowed but I felt that same spark flare in them. His eyes flicked to the left before he regained his confidence. It made me wonder what that flicker was. He walked towards me quickly. I stood straighter than I already was and realized that between Yesterday and today, I had gained almost a foot. Mabel was sure to notice. She was sure to _pretend_ that she didn't care. To shower me with sprinkles and stickers until I got over this new alteration. After a week to make it seem realistic, I would pretend that I didn't care. But I did. I _always_ did. He stopped right in front of me then went to grab me. I dodged. The flare was back. It was on.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N**

 **I've actually been working on this for like... Since the last time I updated. But with school, and piano, and all those things I do that have no purpose in my life and will not help me get anywhere, and- lel. Yeah, it has mainly been reading that has hindered me updating. Have any of you ever read 'The Science of Secrecy' by Simon Singh? Great book so far. Anyways. The probably long awaited chapter that has been so long awaited that it stopped being awaited because a whole bunch of people probably forgot about it because I took so long. XD. Well hopefully you will have remembered what you forgot for the second (originally supposed to be the third) chapter of Changed.**

* * *

Chapter 2

"Nothing a little sleep can't fix! Come on Bro-Bro! Let's go home!" Mabel skipped off the stage, taking the stairs down to the floor two at a time. Dipper reluctantly followed, his feet heavily dragging across the floor and he found he couldn't walk in a straight line. Not that he particularly cared at that exact moment. As he reached the top edge of the stairs he stared at them for a long moment disdainfully.

"Great", he muttered as he started to slowly make his way down them. One step... Two steps... stumble some... Three steps, four left... Fou- "Mabel I can't feel my legs at all" She turned to him from six feet away from the stairs and her eyes widened as he tripped for no discernible reason. He pitched forward and fell the remaining three and a half steps. Tumbling down some then rolling off the edge and dropping off the side of the overly steep stairs, falling four to five feet down before crashing down on the top of his spine the continuing to roll until he was completely on his back where he came to a limp stop.

"Dipper!" Mabel cried out. Running over to him. He slowly tur

I charged him and he held out his hands to accept me, ready to absorb the impact thinking about how skinny and frail I looked. Look again kid. I rammed into him and he flew back about seven feet. I went with him but was above and did a flip in the air before landing on the other side of him- in a crouched position- facing the other way. I heard him start to get up. I turned. He had flown into the sink, leaving it cracked and sprouting water without sensing someones hands. Mike stood straight. He was even more cracked than the sink. I stared. Still emotionless, when I felt one push through. This was damn funny! I wouldn't really ever be able to describe out loud why it was exactly, but I knew in my head. A large smile stretched across my face and Mike looked pretty horrified, more than his anger. I suddenly burst out laughing, almost doubling over in my mirth.

"Wh- what's wrong with you you freak?!" He stammered.

That wasn't funny. Not at all. I stopped laughing abruptly. Face going stone as I slowly lifted my head up to peer at him through the edge of my hat. I felt my eyes act up. Itching to flare out that unsightly yellow colour. My teeth felt awkward and I knew that they were on the verge of elongating. I shot forward and bunched his shirt up in my fist, lifting him almost a foot off the ground with one hand, looking up at him.

"What. Was. That?" I growled out, if anyone else were have to have been there, they would have clearly been able to hear the snarl that underlay my already deadly sounding tone.

His eye sparked. "I saiiiid", he started, dragging it out, "That you were a freak" He finished, smirking. My eye narrowed. I spontaneously jerked around and whipped him into the wall. I went to storm out of the bathroom but stopped. I turned and backtracked to the mirror, grabbed the hall pass, and walked out. Leaving Mike dumped in an unceremonious heap on the ground.

I stepped slowly up to Mr. Atcear's desk, holding out the hall pass. He reached out and took it from my hand silently, with a nod. He quietly showed me the page we were on and indicated that I go back to my seat and work. I turned around, facing the silent room. The only noise being the scribbling of pencils on paper, people working. Or pretending to at least. My eyes narrowed. It was too quiet. To calm. I wanted something to happen. To be exciting. I wanted to feel the thrill of winning a fight. Or the painful humor of getting beat in a fight. Wait. That thought wasn't me. Not me, not me, not. Me. But it was. Luckily for me, after the calm always came the storm. This room could go from silent to raging with fights in a split second. I knew that for a fact. I sat down at my desk and opened my textbook blankly. Not actually reading. I knew it from cover to cover just by glancing at it. I waited. Counting the seconds. Just a few more. Just a fe- now. I looked up suddenly. Staring straight ahead, when behind me I heard the door burst open. I clucked my tongue. My demeanor screaming that I wasn't shock like every other person in the room was, as the door was the sufferer to breaking a hinge and hanging at a slight angle. A nasty dent in the side he kicked. Now, when I said that Mr. Atcear was the most strict teacher in the district, you were expecting him to be all yelling and making a fuss over every single noise. And when he didn't, you were probably pretty disappointed. Well let me make something clear. If you argue and yell, it gets you nowhere. Not at all. Just a waste of time and precious air that you could be breathing. If you make noise, that's your problem. Not paying attention is your fault and you getting bad grades doesn't effect his paycheck. He did his job. But. Yes, always a but. You should not- No, you DO not, ever disrespect him or the strict rules. If you get out of line he will drag his fifty something year old butt over there and wallop you all over. And trust me. You would not like that.

So, as Mike burst into the room- covered in water and a small amount of blood- Mr. Atcear's shocked head shot out of his notes, like everyone else, now staring at Mike. He slowly put down his papers. Seeming flustered and baffled. His eyes wide. He stood at a speed that was only four notches past crawling. Then his eyes narrowed. "MICHAEL PHILLIPS! EXPLAIN THIS AT ONCE!" Mike's shocked face looked up at the sound of the raging man's voice.

"Bu-bl-b-b". He then spotted and glared at me. "IT WAS HIM!" He screamed while pointing in my direction wildly. People's eyes glanced over to me then back to Mike. Then back and back again. Mr. Atcear marched over to Michael and harshly snatched his left wrist. He then whipped out his meter stick and cracked it across Michael's hand. Mike cried out and retracted his hand quickly to cradle it against his chest. Throughout the room there were a few intakes of breaths.

"MR. PHILLIPS, HOW DARE YOU?!" He reached out and grabbed Michael's upper left arm and pulled him to the door. Right before he turned to look back at us with those cold piercing eyes I managed to change my expression to shocked with an underlying tone of hurt. He glared at the class as a whole then growled out. "GET. BACK. To Work". Everyone quickly turned around and clutched their text books tightly. Hard covers almost bending from the strain on them. He stormed out with a blubbering Mike and I let the vulnerable expression gradually slide off my face. Oops. I thought. Did I do that? A large smile that I hid with my textbook slipped on my face. The grin challenging the Cheshire Cat itself. What a good day to be alive. And no one will ever have to know. No one will know. Not one thing. I darted my eyes around to look at all the people in the room. I saw Veronica, who smiled brightly at me. Probably still under the affects of the Smile Dip. Somehow though, when I turned back to my book- which was entailing ancient Greek myths and gods- I managed to miss her smile quickly slip off her face. An empty expression filling the spot as she stared at me. Of course. I didn't know that.

* * *

 **A/N**

 **Okay then. Veronica was originally supposed to be some spoof character that had absolutely no meaning to the major plot but here she is with a slowly developing character and a mysterious element. OoO. Was not planning on that. Sorry for the shortness compared to the last chapter but I literally could not write anymore in here. I tried different scenarios but they were all lame or ended in a writers block so here. ;p. Also, Veronica is a real person.**


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